Protect every project with a fifty percent deposit before work starts, twenty-five percent at a midpoint milestone, and the balance on delivery, all payable within fifteen days. Deposits filter unserious inquiries and fund your materials, while short payment windows keep your bank account from becoming the client's free credit line.
Half up front signals commitment from both sides. You reserve the calendar and buy the tools; they accept that the project is real. Ten percent is too small to sting and does not cover your first week of costs, while full prepay makes most clients flinch for no good reason.
On larger engagements, splitting the remainder into milestone payments beats a single balloon at the end, because it gives you natural checkpoints to realign scope before two months of work goes sideways.
Payment terms buried in a separate contract get ignored. Repeat them in the quote email: deposit amount, due date, milestone schedule, late fee, and the fact that files are delivered after final payment. Repetition is not rude, it is clarity.
Include a late fee of one to two percent monthly and actually apply it once. Clients who learn you enforce your terms stop testing them, and the ones who leave over it were planning to be late anyway.
A deposit is not about trust. It is about making the start of work a shared financial fact.
When a client adds requests after the deposit clears, quote the add-on before doing the work. A short addendum with a price and a revised delivery date keeps the relationship intact and your evenings yours.
Deliver final files only after the last invoice clears. This is standard in creative industries, it is not hostile, and stating it upfront prevents the awkward conversation later. Hold the advantage early and you rarely need to use it.
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